In the summer of 1998, Nigerian wizard Jay-Jay Okocha arrived at Paris Saint-Germain for an exceptionally large fee of $18 million, making him the most expensive African player at the time. World renowned for his creativity, dribbling and playmaking, PSG’s capture of Okocha was not unlike this summer’s signing of Neymar.
Uruguayan forward Diego Forlan rose to prominence when he joined Manchester United as a 21-year-old in 2002. He never made the mark at Old Trafford, but he found immediate success after transferring to Villarreal and then Atletico Madrid for $25 million.
He came, he saw, he conquered (in the name of global peace). Ronaldinho partook in a friendly match for peace in Honduras on Sunday, and the 37-year-old played a remarkable role in the buildup to one of his side’s goals. While his ability to get up and down the pitch is gone, his preposterous touch and sense of invention remains world-class.
It was a peaceful, all-conquering trip to Central America for the Great ‘Dinho, expect for when one crazy stole his classic over-sized beanie.
Dogs are good. Soccer dogs are especially good. A soccer team walking on the field with soccer dogs instead of children as mascots is just so incredibly good we can't even contain ourselves.
Chilean side Colo Colo walked out with some soccer dogs looking to be adopted before Colo Colo's match against Antofagasta. The match ended in a 0-0 draw, but my guess is no one noticed because they were entranced by the good dogs.
You can’t teach the art of goalscoring and that natural instinct to be in the right place at the right time, but what we have here is an example that transcends the art of making something out of nothing — there’s no explanation for this.
This could only be classified as an instinctual finish, but that’s underselling this goal pretty heavily. This isn’t the mark of a goalscorer, this is the mark of a madman. This goal should be investigated, brought before the FIFA Ethics Committee and either be given the All-Time Puskas Award or outlawed.
It probably goes without saying, but Rivaldinho is the 22-year-old son of Brazilian legend Rivaldo. The two even managed to play together for Mogi Mirim in the Brazilian Serie B in 2015, actually scoring in the same game in July of that year.
Now, little Rivaldo plays for Dinamo Bucuresti in Romania, and his side were handed a difficult draw in the third qualifying round of the 2017-18 UEFA Europa League against Spanish side Athletic Bilbao.
Megan Rapinoe took her NWSL-leading goal tally to 12 from 15 matches with a remarkable hat trick in Seattle’s 5-4 victory over Sky Blue FC on Saturday. The Reign squandered a 4-0 lead, but Rapinoe rescued her side with an immaculately placed left-footed shot at the death.